Shelby State Community College (SSCC) is the only minority two year state institution in Tennessee, and therefore serves as a substantial resource for identifying minority students with the potential to make the transition from the two-year college to a biomedical research career. This project proposes to identify eligible Shelby State students very early in the academic career (as soon as their first science course), and place them in a faculty mentored program that will provide advising, guidance, and science instruction throughout the academic year. The students will be introduced to the research experience by placing them for the summer in an existing research laboratory where they will participate in the ongoing research. Students will be placed in laboratories at i) The University of Memphis, ii) The University of Tennessee, Memphis, the Health Science Center of the University of Tennessee, and iii) Le Moyne Owen College, an historically black, private, four-year institution. The project therefore exposes a cohort of promising minority students to the nature of biomedical research and the possible research career paths in an authentic and congenial environment. In addition, the mentoring skills of both Shelby State faculty and those of its partner institutions will be developed. Finally, the project will allow continued curriculum and research cooperation between Shelby State faculty and the University of Memphis, and will initiate new relationships with the other partner institutions. Student participants will be tracked following transfer from Shelby State to a four-year institution for as long a period as practical.